Should Northwestern keep Carmody?

A look at the pros and cons

Wildcats coach Bill Carmody holds his head during the final seconds of his team's overtime loss to . (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Tribune Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Some Northwestern alumni reduce the Bill Carmody tenure to a single number: 12.

He has had 12 seasons to take the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament. And unless the selection committee pulls a shocker Sunday -- lone wolf Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com still has Northwestern among his "last four in" -- Carmody will take his fourth straight team to the NIT.

But the reality is that evaluating him is complex. Every issue has two sides. Here's a closer look:

Con: OK, but the only coaches in power conferences who have been at their schools longer are Texas' Rick Barnes, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, Florida's Billy Donovan, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings.

Pro: Northwestern keeps improving. The Wildcats were a point shy of reaching the NIT semifinals last season. They have been a bubble team this March.

Con: It's the NIT. Almost no one cares. And all they had to do was beat a mediocre Minnesota team on a neutral floor to all but lock up a bid.

Pro: Carmody's Princeton offense maximizes the ability of his players.

Con: Northwestern got zero backdoor layups Thursday against the Gophers. And the Wildcats assisted on only two baskets in the final 25 minutes. Without a center who can score, John Shurna had to take back-to-back 25-foot shots. He hit both but didn't score in the final 12-plus minutes.

Pro: Carmody and his staff identified late bloomer Shurna, snagged Drew Crawford before bigger schools showed interest and persuaded JerShon Cobb to snub Georgia Tech and Clemson. He has signed promising scorer Kale Abrahamson and gotten a verbal commitment from Alex Olah, who could be NU's best big man since Evan Eschmeyer. But a paperwork delay with the Romanian-born Olah means he can't sign until April 16.

Pro: Five of NU's seven rotation players return next season -- Crawford, Cobb, Dave Sobolewski, Alex Marcotullio and Reggie Hearn. Guard Tre Demps redshirted after shoulder surgery. Olah and Abrahamson could be terrific players. Nikola Cerina, an athletic, 6-foot-9 TCU transfer who sat out this season, will be huge on the boards.

Con: Shurna, the Big Ten's top scorer and the most prolific in NU history, will move on. Hardworking Davide Curletti also graduates.

Pro: Carmody's players graduate and steer clear of the police blotter. And sources say NU's admissions standards have risen over the last five to 10 years.

Con: Academic comparables Stanford (six) and Vanderbilt (five) have reached about half the NCAA fields over the last 12 years. Let's not even talk about Duke.

Pro: Carmody is classy and affable. But he's a shrugging Larry David-type who does not feign enthusiasm.

So what will it be? Will Northwestern press the reset button -- or hope for the one- to two-game improvement that will let it dance on Selection Sunday?

Phillips told the Tribune on Friday he will wait until the season ends to address the state of the program. Before he does that, he'll sit down with Carmody to discuss "athletic success, academics, social behavior, NCAA compliance, NU rules, etc."

If Carmody goes, could Northwestern find a coach who puts it in better position to win next season? That's extremely doubtful. And unless Northwestern is willing to lower its academic standards and blow up the outdated Welsh-Ryan Arena, would an impressive, young but unproven coach such as Chris Collins even want the job?